Research Article Variations in Nutrients Composition of Most Commonly Consumed Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Mixed Dishes in South-Eastern Nigeria G. I. Davidson, 1 H. N. Ene-Obong, 2 and C. E. Chinma 3 1 Department of Home Science, Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria 2 Department of Biochemistry (Nutrition and Dietetics Unit), University of Calabar, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria 3 Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, Nigeria Correspondence should be addressed to G. I. Davidson; glorydawn35@gmail.com Received 18 February 2017; Revised 6 April 2017; Accepted 19 April 2017; Published 28 May 2017 Academic Editor: Jorge Barros-Vel´ azquez Copyright © 2017 G. I. Davidson et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Variations in nutrient composition of most commonly consumed cassava (Manihot esculenta) mixed dishes in South-eastern Nigeria were determined. Four communities were randomly selected from each of the fve states in the South-east. Focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted in each of the communities to determine commonly consumed foods and variations in recipes. 24-Hour dietary recall was conducted using 50 randomly selected households in those communities. Recipes collected during the FGD were standardized, prepared, and chemically analysed using standard methods. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Cassava-based dishes were the most commonly consumed in South-eastern Nigeria. Ninety-two percent of the study population ate cassava either in form of “fufu” (fermented cassava meal)/garri (fermented and roasted cassava meal) with soup or as “abacha” (tapioca salad). Commonly consumed soups were melon (Citrullus vulgaris) seeds, “ora” (Pterocarpus soyauxii), and vegetable soups. Seven melon seed, six “ora,” and four vegetable soups and fve “abacha” variations were identifed. Except for vegetable soup, coefcient of variation for moisture was <10%, while large variations (19–71%) were observed for energy and nutrients. Tese variations in cassava-based dishes need to be refected in the country-specifc food composition database to enable nutrient intake assessment or provision of dietary guidance using such food composition database as a reference material to be more efective. 1. Introduction Te need for good quality food composition data on com- monly consumed dishes cannot be overemphasized. Tey are needed for a variety of purposes. For the nutritional epidemiologist, food composition data are used to estimate nutrient intakes of individuals or population groups in order to establish diet-disease relationships [1]. Tey are used for establishment of dietary goals [2], while the dietitian employs them for dietary counselling [1]. Inaccurate data will lead to overestimation or underestimation of dietary intakes. Foods can be consumed as single foods or as mixed dishes/multi-ingredient foods and as such any comprehen- sive food composition database or table should contain the nutrient composition of foods as consumed by the population it serves. Te nutrient composition of foods varies as a result of several factors. For single foods, nutrient variability has been attributed to inherent (age, maturity, genus, species, variety, and cultivar), environmental (soil, climate, pesti- cides, etc.), and processing (cooking methods, preservation methods, etc.) factors. However, for mixed dishes or multi- ingredient foods, the causes are much more complex [3]. Studies have shown that most commonly consumed traditional mixed dishes in Nigeria difer in several ways depending on the socioeconomic status of the family food provider, the prevailing food taboos, food prices, cultural and religious practices, level of nutritional knowledge, and food availability and seasonality [4, 5]. Variations in Nigerian local dishes are also due to the diferent ingredients (with diferent composition) used in preparing them, for example, type and quantity of animal protein, type of cooking oil, type of thickening agent, use of vegetables, and use of Hindawi Journal of Food Quality Volume 2017, Article ID 6390592, 15 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/6390592